1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle front structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A front structure in various vehicles, such as passenger cars and the like, incorporates a structure for absorbing impact at the time of a collision with a body such as another vehicle or the like. In the front structure, a pair of right and left front side members extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and a dash panel extending in the vehicle width direction is disposed on rear end portions of the front side members, and a dash cross-member extending in the vehicle width direction is disposed along the dash panel. Furthermore, a front structure described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2004-276630 also includes pillar braces (reinforcement members) linking the dash panel and the front pillars. The pillar braces are provided at positions that correspond to a height at which the dash cross-member (cross-member) is mounted.
In the foregoing front structure, each pillar brace is joined only to an inner side surface of a pillar inner member of a corresponding one of the front pillars. Each front pillar has a tubular shape whose wall thickness is consistent throughout the entire portion thereof. Therefore, in the case of a frontal collision of the vehicle, as the collision load input to the front side members is transmitted to the front pillars via the pillar braces, stress concentration occurs in junctions between the pillar brace and the front pillars, so that the front pillars (particularly, pillar inner members) deform. Thus, the efficiency of the transmission of the load to the entire skeleton of the front pillar declines. As a result, the absorption of the collision load by the front pillars cannot be fully performed. Besides, since the front pillars cannot sufficiently support two opposite end portions of the dash cross-member or the dash panel, the dash cross-member or the dash panel deforms into the space of the cabin. On the other hand, in the case of an angled forward collision, if a collision load is input to a front pillar directly or via a tire, the front pillar (in particular, a pillar outer member) deforms into the cabin, and therefore the collision load cannot be sufficiently absorbed by the front pillar. As a result, the efficiency of the load transmission from the front pillars to the pillar braces declines, and therefore the efficiency of the load transmission to the dash cross-member or the dash panel declines. Thus, in the foregoing front structure, a front pillar tends to deform so that the collision load cannot be effectively dispersed.